LaLiga football returns with a bang today as the beautiful game kicks off in Spain with the Seville derby.
While there will be no fans in attendance at the 43,000-capacity Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium tonight, the 'Gran Derbi' offers rivals Sevilla and Real Betis the chance to restart with a morale-boosting win.
The Andalusian city of around 700,000 people is evenly divided between supporters of both teams, with this derby known as one of the most passionate in Spain.
With the whole of Seville and Spain watching on, the pressure will be on both sets of players to hit the ground running as LaLiga - and this old rivalry - resume this evening.
Date, venue and kick-off time
Sevilla vs Real Betis will be held at the Sanchez-Pizjuan on June 11, with kick-off scheduled for 9pm BST.
Prediction: Sevilla 2-1 Betis
Form goes out of the window for a local derby - and especially for one when the teams' last competitive fixtures were three months ago.
Still, Sevilla are third for a reason, and have the quality to see out a home win.
How to watch
LaLiga and Premier Sports have confirmed that LaLigaTV will all Sky customers to watch every Spanish top-flight game for free in June.
To get access to all the games, Sky UK customers should visit premiersports.com and register with the promo code BACKTOWIN. Non-Sky customers can also sign up using the same code.
With games due to be shown on TV on Channel 435 on Sky, fans can also live stream the matches online via the Premier Player app.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
The rivals have met 130 times in all competitions.
Sevilla are the dominant force with 61 wins to Betis' 38, with 31 draws shared - and Sevilla won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in November.
As things stand in LaLiga
Sevilla are enjoying a strong season and sit third in LaLiga, 11 points off leaders Barcelona.
While a title challenge may be a step too far for the run-in, Champions League qualification will be tight with just five points separating Sevilla from seventh-placed Valencia.
Betis are firmly midtable in 13th, and have an eight-point cushion over the relegation zone.
Betting odds and tips
- Sevilla win: 10/11
- Betis win: 7/2
- Draw: Between 14/5
- Sevilla to win 2-1: 17/2
- Under 2.5 goals: 21/20
Odds courtesy of Betfair Exchange. Click here to find out more.
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